


Meeting Up

by mandaree1



Category: Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Genre: Blind Paddie, Done on a commission, Gen, Human AU
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-29
Updated: 2017-07-10
Packaged: 2018-11-21 03:50:08
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,447
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11349267
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mandaree1/pseuds/mandaree1
Summary: Padparadscha meets her sister, Sapphire, for the very first time.





	1. Chapter 1

Padparadscha had heard stories as a child about Sapphire. The mystery. The enigma. How she up and left one day, chasing a dream and a lover, whom, as far as anyone knew, she was still with. She was polite and kind, but it was hard to know what she was thinking; no one expected her to leave like she did. She wore dresses and gloves like she did, and bringing up that fact usually had her parents go off into a long-winded story about her. Padparadscha knew they missed her and was patient, knowing she'd be noticed again eventually.

Padparadscha had spent most of her life waiting. Waiting to be noticed, waiting to be spoken to, waiting for the chance to get out of the house. She was okay with that. She had accepted that. She had moved on from that. Moved on from  _them_.

She checked the time on her phone, holding it close to her ear so the general sounds didn't drown out the robotic voice. Perhaps she wasn't as patient as she pretended to be.

Lars stood beside her, hooking an arm around her's, loose enough to break from easily. He didn't speak, but Padparadscha could hear his slight breathing. He had been a sick child, and even now had proven to be very frail. She had been told that his skin was patchy all over, like parts of his body refused to get better, but all she knew was the sags and folds, especially around his right eye, and how they felt to the touch. She hoped he wouldn't need to sit down soon; she didn't think she was able to be still for any period of time. "Has the plane landed yet?"

"You'll know it when you hear it, Paddie," he told her quietly. "Just relax."

Padparadscha doubted that. She'd never heard a plane before. At least, not up close. "Oh, what if she doesn't like me? It's been years since she left; she doesn't have a reason to come back now."

"If she starts trouble, we'll leave," Lars responded. "Unless you wanna go now? We can go now. We can always tell her we couldn't get a cab."

That wouldn't be polite. Padparadscha shook her head, and they lapsed back into silence. Lars might not have been her best choice in guides- if she were being honest with herself, she probably should've brought Grandma Flo, who is neither her grandma nor named Flo- but she was grateful for his presence nonetheless. For all his complaining, he's one of the bravest people she knows.

They end up having to leave to grab some food from one of the small restaurants in the terminal, and when they return the plane has landed. Padparadscha had to cover her ears as people milled by, as loud as ever. Lars tells her Sapphire is coming with a quiet squeeze to the arm, and she nods. He raises his voice. "Hey! Uh, over here!"

She doesn't hear them approach over the hubbub, but she hears Sapphire's voice. "Hello. It's nice to finally meet you."

Padparadscha's shoulders tense without meaning to. Her voice is so pretty. It must run in the family. She wondered how much they looked alike, if at all. "Hi."

"You're shorter than I expected," Sapphire said, then hesitated. "I'm sorry. That was mean. It just came out."

"That's okay." Padparadscha didn't mind. "You sound farther away than I expected."

Wait. No. That doesn't make sense, does it? The sentence itself. She hadn't expected anything out of Sapphire. Still, the woman awkwardly laughs.

A quiet voice near Sapphire murmurs. "Babe? Should I go on ahead?"

"I'd rather you stay," Sapphire answers, and the woman doesn't respond verbally. "This is my lover, Ruby. She's a bit shy when it comes to meeting new people."

"Hi."

"Hey."

"Heya," Lars added, like he was a bit worried they'd forgotten him. "I'm Lars. I'm here to make Paddie look even cooler."

"That is _not_  why you're here," she scolded him, shaking his arm. It feels cold and a bit clammy. "I won't hear that kind of talk."

"Sorry, Paddie. I won't do it again."

Footsteps. A gentle hand on her arm. "If it's okay, I think we should go someplace less crowded. We're getting in the way more than we're talking."

Padparadscha takes a step closer, opens her mouth, then closes it. She has so many questions, but she also has just as many doubts. Would Sapphire really be willing to answer her questions? Would it offend her to even bring it up? "That sounds good. We could get lunch."

"Lunch sounds nice."

* * *

They all agreed on McDonald's, too wired for something as fancy as a sit-down restaurant. They'd rented a less than stellar pick-up, for which they used the bed of as a place to eat. It was quiet. Awkward.

"I don't know how much mom told you about me," she started finally, sucking some salt off her fingers.

"All around, or what happened to make you leave?"

"Either one."

"Ah." Padparadscha set her big mac down thoughtfully. "I've heard plenty of stories, but they were all about you as a kid. We weren't supposed to talk about present you."

"That sounds like them," the older woman agreed. "I left to become an actor, cliche as that might sound. Ruby- well, she inspired me to stretch my wings, so to speak."

"I didn't do anything as grand as  _that_ ," Ruby rebuffed, sounding embarrassed. "I just provided the car."

"You're selling yourself short."

"I mean, it's the only size I come in."

"Babe."

"Sorry, sorry. I'll go back to eating my nuggets now."

There was a small hand on her's, touching but not gripping. "It wasn't easy. I won't say I was always happy- because I wasn't- and I won't say I never thought about going back- because I did. I was never happy in that house. I'm happy  _now_."

It wasn't enough. It never would be. But they both knew it was all she could give. "I'm happy for you, if that means anything."

"It does. A lot."

"I'm glad."

"And you? Are you happy?"

Padparadscha hesitantly nodded. "I'm living in a big house with lots of railings and that tub you can sit in. There's a couple of us living there- Lars included- and one of us, Granny Flo, she's from a rich family, so most of our expenses are covered. I'm very lucky to have found the family I have now."

"I'm glad."

"We're repeating ourselves."

Sapphire laughed. "Ironic, isn't it? We've got the whole world to discuss and we're repeating the same words over and over again."

"I think that's pretty normal," she said, shifting a bit. "Still. It's nice to have you here. You're... a lot nicer than I originally expected."

"I'll take that as a compliment."

Lars hasn't spoken in a while, and, as such, Padparadscha reached out in search of his hand. The murky summer air had warmed it to an uncomfortable sweating consistency, but the teenager hadn't complained once. Maybe he was so used to it around this time of year he'd forgotten to notice. "I'll have to check first, but I wouldn't mind if you came by to visit sometime."

"I'd enjoy that," she confessed, voice becoming a bit hushed. "I'd enjoy that very much."


	2. Chapter 2

Grandma Flo's family had been wide and varied, ranging from a multitude of professions, from a chef to a police officer to a factory worker and so on and so forth. They'd all passed away suddenly, in ones and twos, as she grew up, leaving her a decent enough fortune- enough to afford herself a nice one-story home at the edge of town, comfortably quaint and friendly and accessible. A couple of changes had to be made to make it easier for her- a bathtub she could get in and a ramp to leave and enter with- but eventually it was a good place to call home.

After that, she began to adopt the oddlings. The misfits. The people who weren't given the dignity and help they deserved. Rhody had come first, then Ru and Til; Padparadscha was one of the newer members, with Lars being the newest of the new, though they'd both had plenty of time to settle in by now. It's a nice, comfortable situation they have- one she's not sure adding Sapphire and Ruby to will benefit or harm. It's an odd way to experiment, but not anything she thinks will cause any major concerns overall.

Lars leads her up the steps, though Padparadscha doesn't need his help with the front door. It's mostly just a show of support, and she can appreciate that. She can hear Ruby and Sapphire behind her, but they seem to have agreed upon awkward radio silence. Padparadscha found the keyhole, found the right key, and opened the door.

Almost immediately came Rhody to greet them, fussy as usual. It was nice, comforting, familiar, as always. She takes Padparadscha's purse, nudges Lars over to the fluffy armchair- which he falls into gratefully- then offers to collect Ruby's jacket. She politely declines, though Padparadscha hears her unzip it soon after to let out the extra heat.

The first one up is Ru and Til, who are lovely and angular to the touch. That bit of connected skin on their arms is fascinating to the touch. Ru's arm wraps securely around Padparadscha's shoulder while Til shakes hands. Ru leans down to tell her in a whisper that they have the same hair. It's nice. She likes that idea. Maybe, if things go well enough, Sapphire will let her have a go at braiding it. She's had years of practice, after all.

"Gran Gran is hanging out in the kitchen, as usual," Til informs them with a laugh. "She always says something about the lighting, which is a bit weird, given that there's no big windows or anything."

"Is that an Avatar reference?" Ruby asks.

"It is absolutely an Avatar reference," Ru says. "Is that a problem?"

If anything, she sounds excited about it. "Far from it, methinks."

"Are you comfortable?" Rhody breaks in, and Padparadscha wonders if she's flapping her hands. Probably. "Do I need to go turn the heat down, or anything? Or I could go grab some blankets."

"No, no," Sapphire assured her. "Thank you, though."

Padparadscha can hear water boiling on the stove when they enter the kitchen, and the tapping of Rhody's shoes as she goes to adjust the flame. Granny Flo sits near the far edge of the table in her wheelchair, humming a tune she can't recognize but Padparadscha knows she's heard on the radio somewhere. She found her seat across from her and tucked in, hands clasped across her lap. Sapphire settled in beside her. It suddenly occurred to her that she hadn't heard Lars leave his chair. Was he still in the living room? He  _had_  been pretty weak today, hands shaky and uncooperative, feverish to the touch. He'd probably be spending the next few days sleeping off and on while he recovered.

"Been hearing stories about you all week!" Rhody doesn't bother to look up from the pot, not very interested in looking the two strangers in the eye. She's never been very fond of eye contact. "I hope the flight went smoothly."

"It went just fine. This is such a lovely town. I really wish we could stay longer."

Her fingers tightened their death-grip on her dress. Right. Soon Sapphire would be leaving. It hadn't even been a week and it was already over. What were the chances they'd even see each other after this? Not literally, of course, but the point still stood. Sapphire had places to be, and she didn't doubt that Ruby did as well. And who's to say she'd enjoyed the visit in the first place? Maybe she was just being polite.

"No offense, but I prefer what we've got back home," Ruby replied, sounding very awkward to Padparadscha's ears. "This is a lovely home you've got, but the place itself is too hot. I run a high enough temp as is."

"This is a nice place," Granny Flo murmured sagely, "so long as you don't mind the humidity."

"Yes, ma'am."

"Don't say that just to placate me. I know what you're thinking. Something along the lines of 'yeah, but the humidity is all there is around here to mind!' Am I right?"

"Yes, ma'am," she agreed earnestly.

"Thought so. It really is a lovely neighborhood, despite all that."

"It's pretty nice, when it's not summer," Ru butted in. "Summer is evil."

"It's like there's a monster in the house," Til added, "breathing down your neck. Gross."

"Somebody should get Lars," she said finally. Now that the time limit had been set, it was hard to think of what to say. The last thing she wanted was to leave something unfinished. "He likes mac 'n cheese."

"Lars is napping, Paddie." Rhody was pouring the pot into the strainer now. "I'll put some in the microwave."

"That sounds good," Padparadscha agreed, and reluctantly left it at that. Lars needed his rest. His health mattered more than a late meal. Still, she felt guilty for dragging him around town the past week. He knew his limits and would've stopped her if it got too much, yeah, but that didn't mean she didn't encourage his exhaustion without meaning to. She'd have to apologize when he woke up.

Rhody passed out the bowls and took her own seat. Padparadscha heard the clinking of a spoon but otherwise ignored the food; she wasn't quite ready to dig in yet. Granny Flo was humming again, assumably between bites of mac 'n cheese. Normally, she ate by herself, but she also preferred to be with the group at times like this. It was comfortable. Familiar. Routine, but not in a bad way.

"Want me to just put it in the microwave?" Ru asked eventually.

"Yes, please." She passively listened as the twins got up and took her bowl, spoons clinking around. The water in the sink turned on- no one liked it when the cheese dried and made dishes hard- then shut off.

Warm hands touched one of her's, and Padparadscha jumped, settling awkwardly. Sapphire's hands were just as small as her's.

"I'm very grateful to you for having me," she said firmly, squeezing. "And I'd like to come back again in a month or two, if you'll have us."

Padparadscha's heart skipped a beat as she squeezed back. "I'd like that very much."

Lips gently settled on her forehead, then drew away. It was a nice start to the end.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was commissioned to do a second chapter of this delightful little story, so here's the Off Color family! Ru and Til are conjoined twins, Flo is wheelchair bound, Rhody is autistic and moved in to be with her friends, etc.
> 
> -Mandaree1

**Author's Note:**

> This was another commission! It's a thing, it's done, here we go. =)
> 
> -Mandaree1


End file.
